Arsenic Sands
In Bendigo today-Founded by Cornish miners and a major centre in the Goldfields of Victoria. Toured the aftermath landscapes with Leanne and Rob Lloyd, and a special tour of the Victoria Hill sites with local expert George Ellis-also responsible for creating public access to these old sites.
The remnants of gold mining are quite subtle-you need to know where to look. Many of the ‘mullock heaps’-mountains of quartz waste-are sited in beautiful bush landscape-red eucalyptus trees (called ‘Ironbarks’ as they resemble rust), pepper trees-planted to stabilise the ground, and many other shrubs I’ve never seen before-all to the accompaniment of whooping alien birds !!!
